Bleak statistics not only underscore the urgent and ongoing need for safety-net programs such as the Title X national family planning program, they also demonstrate the significant potential gains to be made as the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of public and private insurance coverage gets underway on January 1, 2014.

Good news from the preliminary birthrate data for 2012: Teen births are down to yet another historic low, births to women in their early 20s also fell to an all-time low, the rate of cesarean sections is stabilizing after years of increasing, and fewer babies were born preterm or at low birth weight.

In a dismaying move, the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has proposed changes to the guidelines for family medicine residency programs removing the requirement that residents learn to provide contraception.